bravenewworld | Light 'em up (The Calderan Day of Fire)

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Light 'em up (The Calderan Day of Fire)

It's the morning of the 19th and it's clear even to the inexperienced traveler that the city has a different air to it. If it wasn't the atmosphere that got them, then the stalls lining the streets would. Many people are still working on getting set up for the night festival, but the stalls that are complete are lining many corners and they are filled to the brim with bright colors. From afar, the streets look like someone threw a rainbow of paint across the city.

They haven't seen anything yet.

It's not yet time for the festivities so any visitors are free to wander the streets. The natives seem to be delighted if amused at all the people interested in the holiday and are happy to sell anyone as much colored powder as they want. They are glad to explain the fascinating origins of the holiday or even talk shop about what they're planning to show off later in the night. It seems that not even the gloom and unease that might have rolled into town with Union has caused these people to falter with their grandest tradition.

Sometime close to noon is when things change. The natives all kind of stop what they're doing. The colored stalls start to close up and everyone looks tense. Those who visited last year might take this as their cue to get ready.

A long, rattling trumpet sound rings through the streets and that is when all hell breaks loose.

It's every person and pokemon for themselves. Have fun everyone.

[Ooc: Feel free to make your own top levels in addition to using the prompts below! Have fun guys!]

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[emerging from the dust, Michiru is looking...particularly unscathed even as she nonchalantly flips her hair back. An absolutely covered Vaporeon follows close behind, sneezing and sending different puffs of color into the air every time.

And if we're going to celebrate Calderan style, she's got a dark blue sari on, midriff appropriately bare.

...somewhere in the dust is a multi-colored Bidoof, valiantly trying to follow.]

[Aaagh, this isn't good! Ryuko's hunkered down behind a wall, ducking down as handfuls of dust impact just on the other side. She and Skullface are pinned down with nowhere to go.]

Aaaagh! Damnit, where's our air support?!

[She lifts her head scanning up above but Squawks and Chompers are nowhere to be seen. They're on their own.]

No choice then. Looks like we're gonna have to charge right down their throats! You ready? [She turns her head back, meeting her Cubone's eyes and the two share a grave nod before she takes a deep breath and, with a resounding battle cry, turns and starts to climb over the short wall into the fray. Her arm cocks back, ready to throw--

... and she stops in that exact pose, head turning slowly as Michiru walks by looking all-- POW! A handful of dust heads her dead on in the face and down she goes in a shower of multicolored powder vanishing into a rainbow cloud, leaving only a Cubone frantically waving its arms above her.]

GWAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

[oh my. Michiru managed to catch most of that, fortunately (or unfortunately).

Quiet footsteps move closer, and then there's a voice above you.] Are you alright, Ryuko?

[Michiru's crouched down next to you, looking a bit worried. Vaporeon is looking curiously at the Cubone. That is one flaily Pokemon.

And if you've got the instinct for this sort of thing, you'd find that Michiru's got a faint, Psychic barrier around her to stave off the powder.]

[Uuuugh, that sucked. By the time the dust settles at all, Ryuko's flat on her back, covered in powder of every single color. She coughs once, letting loose a little puff of orange into the air. She never stood a chance, it was a slaughter.

Well... on the bright side at least Michiru hadn't seen her complete fa-aaaaaah she's right here! Ryuko's eyes go a bit deer-in-headlights as she stares upwards and it's a good thing her face is covered in red powder right now. Okay, say something. No! Not just something, something cool. Be cool!]

....... Yuh huh.

[Nearby, Skullface falls to her knees, fists in the air as she throws her head back and howls "CuBOOOOOOOOOOONE" to the sky.]

[Michiru giggles, smile hidden behind a hand. Maybe she thinks your response is quaint? Or maybe it's the tie-dye nature of your appearance right now.

Either way, she's offering you a hand up and a nice, polite response.] Well, it was very dramatic.

[staring at Cubone, Vaporeon has to agree with Trainer on this one.] Va. [ya know, you can always buy more of that powder stuff...]

[Ryuko barely even gets the chance to mentally bang her head against the wall for her absolute lack of cool before Michiru's giggle somehow knocks everything down a level below "unmitigated diaster." She even feels the dumb expression on her face shift into a little smile of her own. Someone is laughing at her and she's totally okay with it!

Something must be broken.]

Y-yeah. [She looks at the outstretched hand, swallowing once before reaching out to accept it, feeling her cheeks heat up under the layers of dust. The same dust that cascades off of her as she rises.] Um, it's just, I look forward to this day all year so I kinda go all out when it gets here....

[Skullface cuts off her wail when she realizes she has an audience in the form of a Vaporeon and quickly rubs the back of her neck "Cu"ing sheepishly. She just got a little carried away in the moment.]

I can't blame you; it does look like fun. [ignoring the dust is probably getting pretty commonplace] Though I suppose I've been doing it wrong. [hence the spotless appearance. Insert small smile here.

Vaporeon grins, trying to look as aloof and unflappable as Trainer - until she sneezes and dust puffs up into the air.]

Ah, n-no! [She pretty much blurts it out before she can think better of it. She catches herself, clearing her throat and glancing to the side.] Uh, I mean. You're not doin' it wrong or anything. It's a lot of fun, yeah, but it's a big Calderan thing so not everybody's gotta... uh... [what the hell is she saying? ~~At least she managed to not say that Michiru's undusted appearance looked just dine~~] unless you wanna try it! Then I could... show you how it's done?

Or not. That's cool too. Whatever.

[Oblivious to her trainer's fumbling, Skullface jumped a tad at the Vaporeon's sneeze and then gave a laugh, kicking up her own little cloud of dust with her foot toward the water type.]

[it's probably a bad idea to mention out loud how cute she thinks you are.

Here's a smile though, eyes half-hooded.] Would you? You seem to know what you're doing.

[any earlier incidents seem to have been forgotten.

Vaporeon sneezes again! But this time, she barks a laugh and then spins, using her tail to sweep dust towards Skullface!]

Edited 2016-06-23 23:47 (UTC)

[Do you want steam to come shooting out of Ryuko's ears? Because that's how you get steam to come shooting out of Ryuko's ears.

That look she's giving her almost does just as well and there's a brief second where Ryuko's brain grinds to a halt as she scrambles desperately to come up with a way to explain the whole thing that sounds better than "ya grab a handful of dust and smack it in the face of every motherfucker you see."]

Yeah. Sure. I'm pretty much a pro. [She clears her throat and folds her arms, trying her best to look learned and important.] I guess the first thing you gotta do is pick out your favorite dust colors. I went with red but there's tons to pick.

[She's also gotta figure out some way to do this without just pelting Michiru with dust because making her a mess seems... terribly wrong somehow.]

[Of course only a few feet away there's a practical demonstration in progress. Skullface waves her arms in the air, jumping and laughing as the dust sweeps over her. It's totally on now! Skullface scoops up a couple of handfuls of dust and returns fire eagerly.]

[Michiru nods dutifully] So does it end when your opponent simply has had enough and leaves?

[or runs out of dust. Either way, they could potentially team up!

It hits! Vaporean's got a couple more (clashing) spots of color on her fins. She tries shaking it off, and then growls mock-ferociously, neck frill flaring up (and making her a bigger target). She pounces playfully, trying to get Skullface to fall onto that nearby pile of dust.]

Ah. Well, sorta. [She blinks, scratching her cheek in thought.] There's no real rules about it or anything but if somebody goes down or says uncle it's just kind of a lousy thing to do to keep hammering them, y'know?

[They could. They could team up. They could team up for the whole day!]

Cu-! [Skullface manages to get one last toss in as Vaporeon puffs up before the water-type comes tackling into her. She's not going into that dust pile alone though! And she grabs onto her new playmate, intending on rolling through the dust with her in tow.]

That makes sense. [it doesn't look like it's an actual competition with points, so having fun and not being too much of a jerk would go hand in hand.]

I'd love to see you in action. [whatever that means.

Vaporeon hits the dust with a yelp, inhales, and sneezes! A big puff of multicolored dust envelopes the both of them!]

[That latest puff of dust catches Skullface right in the nose and it's her turn to sneeze. Hard enough that she falls backwards, landing on her rump before sneezing again and sending even more dust up around herself and Vaporeon.]

Uh- [That "see you in action" line shorts out her brain just a bit for a second before she catches up. Oh, man, Michiru wants to see what she can do! Okay, she's gotta bring her A game now, no holding back!] Yeah, okay! I'll show you what a real Calderan's made of!

[She clenches her fist, pumping her arm in the air. Apparently, she's pretty darn fire up right now!

... And it's about then that Chompers and Squawks wheel back around, having regained their bearings. Then, seeing their trainer talking to somebody who is way too neat and tidy for today, glance at each other and then drop a double payload right toward Michiru.]

[Michiru smiles at Ryuko's obvious enthusiasm. Who knows, maybe it'll be contagious!

Psychic intuition causes her to look up, however. The barrier around her flares up with Psychic energy, becoming visible for a short moment as the dust hits it and bounces off.

...wait.] Barriers are considered to be cheating, right?

[you might have the honor of seeing her looking less than tidy.

Vaporeon barks a laugh, coughs because she inhaled dust, and then scampers out of the little dust cloud to regroup (and/or retreat)!!]

[Ryuko nearly jumps out of her skin as her flyers come back at the WORST POSSIBLE TIME to nail the WORLD POSSIBLE TARGET HOLY SHIT GUYS.

Oh, but it looks like Michiru's got it covered when that Barrier flashes into existence to deflect the sneak attack. Phew. That was close, they could've blown this whole thing for her! ~~Let her dream.~~]

Erm... well, some people might say that.

[Ryuko, you have made your opinion on cheaty brain powers abundantly clear, you hypocrite.]

[Oh no, the fight's not over yet! Skullface is quick to follow Vaporeon out of the dust cloud on far less graceful, waddling steps, laughing gleefully in hot pursuit with a dust bomb in each tiny paw.]

Right, then. [looks like she isn't going to argue with the expert. There's a slight shimmer as the barrier dissipates.]

No powers, then? [at the same time, she pulls out a ribbon and ties her hair back in a neat ponytail. If she's going to get serious...

There's a quick flash of blue over to your right, Skullface! Vaporeon's being a sneak and trying to pounce the Cubone from behind.]

[Oh, damn, she's really serious about this. Ryuko swallows and then nods, getting her game face back on.]

No powers. [She agrees then turns and points her finger upwards.] You hear that you two? We're teamin' up here, so no bombing these ones!

[The two flyers exchange a glance and then nod.]

Good. [She turns back to Michiru, untying one of the several bags of dust she has hanging from her own Caldera-style clothes.] You're gonna need some dust to get started. I got plenty to go around though.

[Oh no, an ambush! Skullface turns sharply but she's too clumsy and short to completely dodge Vaporeon's tackle! Maybe she can at least pelt the Water-type with these two pawfulls of dust before she gets bowled over though!]

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Light 'em up (The Calderan Day of Fire)

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I couldn't resist

...poor ryuko

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